Painting Thinkers Definitions

Painting (n.) one's ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠mood, however clumsily, makes a thing shaped by both minds at once — the unconscious striving for light, the conscious striving for substance.

Painting (n.) from ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the unconscious develops out of itself, often against one's conscious intentions — one can paint very complicated pictures without the least idea of their meaning.

Painting (n.) keeps ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the unconscious from splitting off dangerously — and patients' pictures, lacking artistic imagination, are easier to understand than modern artists'.

Painting (n.) what ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠we see within is a different art from painting what we see before us: a talented portraitist had to start again with pitiably childish efforts.

Painting (n.) himself, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the patient gives shape to himself — and discovers that what works within him is not his ego but an eternally unknown, alien agent.

Painting (n.) one's ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠psychic situation puts the chaos at a safe distance: the picture covers the frightening impression, the tremendum is spellbound and made familiar, as Brother Klaus turned his terrifying vision of God into an image of the Trinity.

Painting (n.) her ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠inner states kept one schizophrenic woman out of the asylum for twelve years: each picture objectified the threatened break, and reading tied it back to what mankind knows.

Painting (n.) the ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠images of a neurosis puts a kind of spell on them: once given form, a content loses much of its menace, and the more complex it is, the more pictures are needed to drain it.